A woman who lit eight potentially "catastrophic" fires along the Wollongong beach-side bike track in an early morning arson spree has been jailed for 15 months.
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Patricia Davis sobbed as she was taken into custody by Corrective Services staff following an hour-long sentencing hearing in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday.
The 49-year-old, whose lawyer said she had a complex history of disadvantage and abuse, was caught on CCTV setting fire to eight patches of vegetation between 1am and 2.30am on April 29, including one that came within 10 metres of homes inside Wollongong Surf Leisure Resort.
When arrested in July, Davis said she and her co-offender had missed their train home from Wollongong that night and had a run-in with police as a result, leaving her in a foul mood.
"I was pissed off, it was cold," she said.
"I did it [lit the fires], okay. I was pissed off. I've never done anything like this in my life and I feel terrible."
An agreed set of police facts tendered in court said the first fire was lit in the playground near Levendi Cafe on Cliff Road.
The CCTV tracked the pair as they set fire to shrubbery in the following locations: the bridge on Squires Way at North Wollongong; Thomas Dalton Park at Fairy Meadow; twice on the bike track inside the Surf Leisure Resort; the Towradgi Creek bridge at East Corrimal; and the bike track near Corrimal Beach Tourist Park.
Police began following the bike track after the first two fires were reported and extinguished some of the flames, while Fire and Rescue NSW were called to deal with the larger blazes. Meanwhile, residents were the first on the scene at the larger of the two fires inside the Wollongong Surf Leisure Resort.
Following Davis' arrest, police seized a mobile phone containing video footage of some of the blazes. In the recording, Davis and her co-accused laugh and talk about the fire, with Davis overheard saying "that's just rarin'....I hope we don't get blamed for it."
She also lets fly at emergency services: "Those f--kers want to be smart to me, you f--king dirty c--ts. Coppers and fire brigade, I bet everyone's asleep."
In court on Tuesday, Magistrate Jillian Kiely said the incident was particularly troubling and there was a strong need for general and specific deterrence.
"Had the weather conditions been different this could have been an absolutely catastrophic event," she said.
"It's absolutely imperative to denounce this behaviour."
She sentenced Davis to 2 years jail, with a non-parole period of 15 months.
Davis will be eligible for parole in April next year.
